Editorial: Big Tobacco has it right on packaging issue

Tuesday

Aug 30, 2011 at 12:01 AMAug 30, 2011 at 1:30 AM

Few American industries deserve less sympathy from the public than does Big Tobacco. Officials at many tobacco companies have used every possible resource at their disposal to conceal the hazards of cigarette smoking. Remember the scene from the mid-1990s, when one tobacco executive after another claimed before members of Congress that cigarettes were not addictive? Is there a single cigarette smoker in this country who didn’t know better?

Few American industries deserve less sympathy from the public than does Big Tobacco.

Officials at many tobacco companies have used every possible resource at their disposal to conceal the hazards of cigarette smoking. Remember the scene from the mid-1990s, when one tobacco executive after another claimed before members of Congress that cigarettes were not addictive? Is there a single cigarette smoker in this country who didn’t know better?

Naturally, many people scoffed when they heard major tobacco firms recently filed a lawsuit against the federal government. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a plan earlier this year mandating the use of graphic images on cigarette packaging by September 2012.

In startling fashion, the images portray the grim realities smokers face. In the hope of dissuading people from using cigarettes, the pictures demonstrate how smoking has adversely affected countless individuals.

Nearly two months ago, we questioned in an editorial the effectiveness of the FDA’s plan. The government originally placed labels on packs of cigarettes to warn potential smokers to the dangers.

Now the government believes it must be much more alarming than it has been. The shock value of the initial warning labels waned, and eventually so will the shock value of these new images.

Like it or not, the tobacco industry produces a legal product. If the consequences of smoking must be dramatically exposed, what other social ills should the government warn us against?

Can we expect disturbing images of diseased livers on bottles of alcohol next? What about an amputee with diabetes on a package of candy?

The government’s proper role is to inform us of the risks of using these products. Big Tobacco has its share of faults, but it has a point on this issue.